Hi all I work every day with multi-talented designers who are the whole package and more. They take our designs from concept to finished art. They are masters of both interaction and visual design (and no you can't have them :)).
That said, I have worked on both sides of this argument. I have worked as an interaction designer who relied on graphic artists to create the graphics for my designs. Looking back, and now having worked with the designers on my team, most of the graphics artists I worked with in the past with could function easily as interaction designers. Some of them did - but only on their portfolio sites, not at work. In other cases, I struggled with graphic artists that worked in the print world and didn't get the interactive component so it was near impossible to get the visual design to support the interaction. Is there room for both specializations, sure, IMHO we get great, world class design from designers with talent for both interaction and visual design. And yes, we call them User Experience Designers because they design the whole experience. Regards Barb Hernandez User Experience Manager | TechSmith Corporation -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Todd Zaki Warfel Sent: Monday, October 20, 2008 11:32 AM To: Dennis, Alan Cc: IxDA list Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Can an interaction designer creat (great) interaction without (great) visual design skills? On Oct 17, 2008, at 8:53 AM, Dennis, Alan wrote: > Basically, my point is that if you want to make great designs, I do > believe you need to have somewhat of an understanding in the various > disciplines involved. Visual design is one of those disciplines that > can help immensely. Having an understanding and appreciation for a related discipline isn't the same as being a master of it. Good visual design can enhance interactions, or can break them. The interaction design is the foundation of a good design. I believe that being a good interaction design who has good visual design skills is better than one who doesn't. However, I don't believe for a minute that you can't be a good interaction designer if you don't have good visual design skills. As long as you understand the practice and appreciate it, then you can be a great interaction designer. Stating interaction designers have to be good visual designers is like saying good programmers have to be good interaction designers. Software development is an evolutionary process. We rely on each other as a team. Cheers! Todd Zaki Warfel President, Design Researcher Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully. ---------------------------------- Contact Info Voice: (215) 825-7423 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AIM: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Blog: http://toddwarfel.com Twitter: zakiwarfel ---------------------------------- In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
